As I kick off my month of blogging, I can’t help reflecting on where I was at the last time I took up the #blogjune challenge.

This time last year, I was writing my very first post on this blog and gearing up for a sabbatical during which I would write my PhD thesis. Or more accurately, a sabbatical during which I would finish my data collection, code all my interview transcripts, develop a theory and write my thesis. I’m nothing if not ambitious.

I didn’t quite make it, but I got close.

In January, I went back to work. With a vengeance. I took over as course coordinator of the masters program I teach into. I also took up a fellowship on a university-wide teaching and learning transformation initiative. And I won’t bore you with all the details, but man, has it been a crazy five months.

So crazy, in fact, that I haven’t touched my dissertation since the first week in January, which really is a bummer because I was hoping to have my final seminar early this year. I was pretty devastated about my timeline slipping out so spectacularly, but it was unavoidable.

So 12 months on from #blogjune 2013 and I’m in much the same position as I was last year: psyching myself up to switch into dissertation writing mode. But this time, sans sabbatical.

I have a pretty grueling timeline that will see me have my final seminar towards the end of November and submit my thesis for examination in early December. And I am utterly determined to stick to it.

So here I am. Standing in roughly the same place I was in 12 months ago. It’s kind of like Groundhog Day. But this time I’ve got 40,000 ish words under my belt and a timeline that will put this PhD baby to bed before Christmas.